For Beth
by mrscakeakajane
Summary: After all is said and done, it is all for Beth, this was writen before s3 started so is totaly AU, but still worth a read


**This story was writen for she who asked :-) i hope you like it sweet heart**

**i hope you guys all like it too, drop me a line and let me know what you think**

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For Beth.

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Family, It's a funny thing

Quinn knocked gently on the kitchen door, not too loudly, in case she woke the small baby she knew to be asleep inside. Shelby answered the door quickly, and motioned Quinn inside without a word.

Quinn stepped inside and took her coat off; she knew exactly where to hang it, which was no surprise, considering the amount of time she'd spend here over the past 11 months.

"Good your here," Shelby said impatience emanating from every fibre of her body. "What took you so long?"

"I was working on a school project," Quinn tried to explain, not that it mattered, Shelby didn't actually care one way or another. "Do you have a practice?"

"Not tonight," Shelby said cryptically, not willing to meet Quinn's eye.

"I'm going to freshen up. You should go in and wake him."

Before Quinn could ask who 'him' was, Shelby was gone. Checking her hair in the hallway mirror, she walked confidently into the lounge. But the sight that met her had her literally stopping her in her tracks.

Leaning back on the recliner, with Beth laying across his well-defined chest, her head pillowed on his shoulder, was Noah Puckerman.

Puck was gently shaken awake, and he opened his eyes, they were still bleary from the impromptu nap he'd just taken. He saw the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen. A woman stood before him with blond hair framing her soft face, the light shining behind her gave her whole body a halo.

"Look Bethy an Angel," Puck's eyes drifted shut again, but the tinkling laughter had him snapping his eyes open again. "Quinn?"

"What are you doing here Puckerman?" Quinn asked trying not to allow herself to think how adorable they looked together.

"The same reason you're here," Shelby said re-entering the room.

"What the hell?" Puck demanded.

"Do either of you have any idea how much organisation it takes to keep the two of you separate?" She asked still not giving them a straight answer. "I should get a medal. Noah's hear every morning to get her up and fed and dressed, all I have to do is take her to the day care. Then Quinn is here ever afternoon to play with her bathe her and put her to bed."

Puck and Quinn looked at each other in shock. "You do that?" They asked simultaneously.

"Yes, you both do. But no more," She looked up at the pair for the first time. Quinn was now sitting on the arm of the recliner, tears swimming in her pretty eyes.

"We can't see her anymore?" Quinn asked, and Puck felt an unseen force clench at his heart at the use of the word 'we'.

"I had an interview last week, got the phone call this morning to say the job is mine. I'm producing a show in the West End, I leave for London in three weeks."

Puck cradled the still sleeping baby in his arms and placed a soft kiss to the crown of her head. He felt as if his heart was breaking all over again. The first woman he'd ever truly loved had left him not seeing him as worthy of love, and now, the child they had created together was being ripped from him too.

Puck felt an arm go around his shoulders and looked up to see Quinn looking at him, total understanding in her eyes.

"Yes well, as touchy feely as all this is, I have some papers for you both to sign. Then you can both go, I have a great deal to get ready."

"What papers?" Quinn asked confused.

"To transfer guardianship back to you, of course. I can't be saddled with a kid in the West End now can I?" She asked as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "The West End might not be as big as Broadway, but it's just as busy and I thought this would be better than putting her in care, which is my only other option."

Puck was on his feet in an instant. "You'd abandon her?" He asked outraged.

"I'm not asking you to take her tonight, you'll need time to organise yourselves. So we keep going as things have been. You have two weeks, I need a week to myself, and you can have all her things, naturally."

"Lady there's nothing natural about you." Puck turned to Quinn, "I will do this on my own if I have to, but I won't turn into my dad," ee said vehemently.

Quinn didn't answer, she looked at Shelby. "Where do we sign?" She asked a determined look on her face.

Shelby, of course, had the relevant documents close to hand and before either teen had a chance to think about it, they had both signed them.

"Right, you can go put her to bed and leave then. I'll see you in the morning, Noah," Shelby left them in a state of shock.

"We're going to be parents again," Quinn whispered.

"Yeah, but this time we didn't get the fun of having sex first."

Despite her giggle Quinn slapped Puck's arm. "Come on it's a school night let's put her to bed."

When Beth was settled, they walked to the cars together.

"So, I'll see you in school tomorrow," Quinn said nervously.

"Yep, and we got Glee, we should tell them." Puck asserted; the last thing he wanted was a repeat of last year's fiasco.

Quinn nodded as if reading his mind. "They're gonna freak out."

Puck smirked and shoved his hands in his pockets. "It won't be so bad, want to put a bet on who's gonna squeal louder Berry or Hummel?"

Quinn giggled, "The smart money is on Kurt."

"Agreed," They shared a soft smile.

"See you tomorrow Noah," Quinn waved as she got into her car.

Puck allowed himself a genuine smile. "See ya Quinny," He watched her drive away before one more glance back at the house he'd just left and climbed into his own truck and drove home.

Puck was waiting for Quinn when she arrived at school.

"We need to have a deep and meaningful, get it out of the way before it drives me nuts."

Quinn nodded, she'd been up half the night trying to figure out what she wanted or what could possibly happen.

"Where?" She asked just as willing to get this over with.

"Glee club room," Puck suggested.

"Come on then,"

When they were safely in the room with the door closed, Puck started talking.

"I want us to raise Beth together, like live together and shit," he said directly.

"You want us to be a couple?" Quinn asked shocked.

Puck shook his head. "Naw, you and me - that was a then thing. You and me... You repeat this and I'll shave your head in your sleep,"

Quinn gasped and her hand flew instinctively to her head.

"I did love you, but, now, you're like, family or some shit, I still love you, I guess, just..."

"Just not romantically," Quinn finished.

"Exactly," Puck nodded, glad that Quinn understood.

"Thank God for that," Quinn breathed a sigh of relief, the one thing that had bothered her more than anything was that Puck might want a relationship, which would be beyond weird when she considered him more like a brother now.

Puck grinned at her, "So we find some place to live together, and take care of Bethy."

"We'll need money, we'll have to get jobs, and see what help we can get from the government."

"I got some money,"

"More or less than $10?" Quinn teased good-naturedly,

"Bitch," Puck nudged her with his shoulder, "I got a job, been saving," Puck said proudly.

"Where do you work?" Quinn asked genuinely interested.

"I work for Mr Hummel fixing cars. Kurt's been teaching me," Puck laughed at Quinn's shocked expression.

"Kurt, our Kurt, the same Kurt who can throw a hissy fit bigger than me and San put together on a bad day, if someone gets something on his clothes. That Kurt," Quinn was shocked.

"The one and only. The boy has serious car skills," Puck told her a hint of familial pride creeping into his voice.

"I just can't picture him in plain blue overalls," Quinn admitted.

"Well if you can call them plain with the sequins."

Quinn smiled, now that was more the Kurt she knew. "Okay, so you have a job, I have some money from my parents. I never spent the guilt money they kept throwing at me, it's a start," Quinn smiled up at Puck. "We can do this, can't we?"

"Sure we can, not like we'll be on our own, I bet all of Glee club will want to be a part of her life. And when else can I call Hummel a fairy Godfather and not get shot by his Dad."

"Kurt would be a perfect Godfather, he'd spoil her rotten."

"You can ask him then, he'll hug me. And he screams really loudly," Puck begged.

"Sure, I'll ask. Time for class, I'll see you lunchtime. I'll send a mass text and get the guys together," Quinn offered, happy with the way the 'talk' had gone.

The rest of the Gleeks had responded quickly and promised their attendance to the rehearsal room for lunch.

"What's going on?" Rachel asked as soon as they were all inside the closed door, she was the only one not to have taken a seat. "You're not planning on quitting are you, we might have Blaine on our team now but we need you if we're going to get to Nationals. This is our last year we can all go and..."

Mercedes put her hand over Rachel's mouth. "Shut the hell up and let them talk," she said in the direct no nonsense way that she was known and loved for.

Rachel's eyes widened, but she nodded her acceptance and sat next to Finn clutching his hand. "Sorry, go ahead."

Quinn looked to Puck for encouragement; he took her hand and squeezed it. "Beth is coming back to us," She announced in a rush.

There was silence, for just a moment, then the noise was deafening.

They had been right Kurt had made the loudest noise but it was a very close call.

"So are you two getting back together?" Mercedes asked.

"Nah, just friends, we're gonna bring up Bethy together though," Puck answered this time.

"You're going to get a place together?" Santana asked, her pinkie, as always linked with Brittany's.

"Of course they will, you can't raise a baby in the school locker room," Kurt snapped.

"Will you stay in Lima?" Blaine asked trying to avoid a fight between his boyfriend and the Latina girl.

Quinn looked at Noah, "Yes, I think we'll stay. I know I was meant to come and share an apartment with you guys," she said looking at a few of the other members. "But things have changed."

"They don't have to change," Kurt told her firmly. "It just means we'll have an extra person to help with the rent and you'll have four baby sitters on hand. It works perfectly."

Quinn's eyes filled with tears and she ran out of the room before they could start to fall.

"We'll go after her," Brittney said dreamily. "Don't worry," And she left taking Santana with her.

Tina and Rachel shared a look and quickly followed, Rachel calling over her shoulder. "It's a great idea Kurt, I'm sure I would have thought of it."

"Someone want to tell me what's going on?" Puck asked soundly slightly annoyed that decisions were being made without his knowledge.

"Well, Quinn was supposed to come live with Blaine and I and Mercedes in New York," Kurt explained.

"Cool, where are you looking?" Artie asked.

"On Pear-Tree avenue. There's a small apartment complex. We were looking there," Blaine told them.

"You're shiting me!" Finn exclaimed.

At the same time as Artie said 'No freaking way!"

Puck sat down; he knew eventually someone would explain things to him, probably.

"What?" Kurt asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, me and Rach have been looking for a place, but they only have 4 bedroom place left there. And with just the two of us, it's too much."

They turned to Artie for his explanation.

"I put a deposit on the ground floor place last week, it's already wheelchair adapted. Tina agreed to move in with me. And there is a spare room, which I'm subletting to Santana and Brittany," Artie explained with a grin. What where the odds of them all finding a place in the same area, let alone the same building.

Finn looked crest fallen. "I wish we could live there too," he said looking like a puppy that'd been told 'bad dog' by his master.

Kurt started bouncing. "This is too perfect," He exclaimed virtually dancing on the spot.

Blaine sat next to Puck. "I found that when he gets like this its best to just nod and say 'yes dear' until he either hits me or explains."

Puck snorted. "Can I borrow that if we do end up sharing a place?"

Blaine smiled, "It's why I told you," Blaine was watching Kurt who was furiously texting.

"Have you found a way to shut him up mid rant?" Puck asked, enjoying the banter.

"Kissing him usually works," Blaine winked.

"Yeah, I'll leave that to you bro. I like my nuts where they are," Puck shuddered at the thought of what the smaller teen would to do him if he tried that technique.

Blaine laughed, "Good to know."

The girls were soon returned,. "Sorry," Quinn apologised sheepishly, "It's still new when people act like they care."

"I'm not acting, I don't take acting class," Brittney said, her head cocked to one side in confusion.

"We do care Quinn, we're not acting, or pretending." Artie assured the girl.

"What's this master plan of yours Kurtie hun?" Mercedes asked giving Quinn a one armed hug.

"We all want to live in the same building, but the apartments are the wrong sizes right. Well if we give things a bit of Mash Up treatment, we can stay together."

"What are you talking about?" Puck asked, more confused than ever.

"Well, Finn said there was a four bed apartment, Well if Blaine myself, Quinn, Puck and the baby rented that apartment, that would leave the 3 bedroom place free for Finn and Rachel and Mercedes to rent. And Artie are on the ground floor with Santana and Britt." Kurt explained still excited.

"Oh hell to the no." Mercedes exclaimed quickly. "No way I can live with Miss Diva over there, one of us would be dead in a week, and I guarantee it won't be me."

"I must agree with Mercedes, the likely hood of argument is very high," Rachel agreed with a nod.

"What about if Santana and Brit swap with Mercedes, makes more scene to have more people in the bigger flat anyway," Finn suggested in a rare moment of brilliance.

The three former cheerleaders smiled at each other. "Perfect," They coursed.

"Sounds to me like we have a working plan. But what about right now?" Puck asked, beginning to like this idea.

Kurt frowned then perched himself on Blaine's lap. "We could ask my dad if you can have the apartment on top of the garage. It's only got 2 bedrooms but Beth could share with one of you."

"That's a great idea Kurt," Blaine complimented, his arm around him.

"Would your Dad say yes?" Quinn asked.

"Sure he will, when Kurt tells him so," Finn grinned widely, he knew just how well Kurt had Burt wrapped around his little finger.

Santana gave a rare genuine smile. "Painting Party!" She said delighted.

"I like parties," Brittany smiled. "Can we have snacks and music?"

"Sure we can," Santana assured her.

"What about materials?" Rachel asked ever the practical one.

Brittany cocked her head to one side. "My dad has lots of paint tins, the bits leftover from decorating, you can have them."

The group turned to her as one in surprise.

"The girl's a closet genius," Puck said getting up and hugging the blond, ignoring Santana's warning growl.

"Great, so we all load up the stuff our parents have left over; painting material even furniture and meet at Mr Hummel's garage after school," Artie said already looking forward to it already.

"Let's make it a sleep over weekend. It's Friday our families won't object too much," Rachel suggested. "We'll need to bring bedding and clothes. If the flat's been empty it will need to be cleaned."

"Pizza!" Kurt demanded.

"Definitely," Finn agreed.

The bell rang to signal the end of lunch and they all left for their next class, having agreed to meet at six.

When Puck pulled up at Hummel's Tire and Lube, Mr Hummel was already there with Kurt and Finn.

"Hello Sir," Puck greeted him politely.

"Told you to call me Burt. Now, Kurt has told me about Beth. You want to rent the place?"

"Yes Sir, um, Burt," Puck virtually stuttered ignoring Finn and Kurt's sniggers.

"Are you and she a couple, going to get married for the sake of the kid?" Burt asked firmly.

"No, we're not like that, we're family, like brother and sister," Puck tried to explain.

"But you're not actually brother and sister, and you'll be living alone together."

"Finn and Kurt aren't 'actually' brothers, but they live together," Puck pointed out. "Look Burt, I just want to be in my kids' life I want her to have two parents. Me and Quinn can do that together without pretending to be something we're not and end up hating each other for it. That's no life for a kid," Puck said passionately, expecting Burt to yell at him. Much to his surprise Burt grinned widely.

"Good answer kid. Place is yours, $50, I'll let you off the first month as your decorating the place. I hear the other singing kids are coming to stay this weekend?"

Puck didn't allow himself a smile at Burt calling Glee 'the singing kids.' "Yes sir." He confirmed.

"Fine, but no funny business. That goes for all three of you," Burt headed back to his truck. "Oh, before I forget, I've been meaning to get someone to keep an eye on the place, like a night watch man, you interested? Pay you $75 a week."

"Definitely, that'll be great," Puck said thrilled.

"Good, and as you live so close you can have more hours, teach you the trade properly. Have fun see you Monday."

They watched him drive off. "That is so awesome, he's only asking $50 a week rent and giving me a job that pays $75, and extra hours."

"Puck my favourite Neanderthal," Kurt started, only to be interrupted by Finn, coughing in a most unsubtle way. "My second favourite Neanderthal," Kurt continued seamlessly. "He wants $50 a month," Kurt corrected.

"Fuck," Puck exclaimed, then grinned cheekily at Kurt. "I knew you'd be the perfect Fairy Godfather for Beth."

Kurt's mouth fell open, then, he squealed. "Oh My God, you mean that? I know a perfect little boutique where we can get her little dresses and I bought her a tiara when she was born, to start her collection and..." Kurt went into babble mode.

Puck was very thankful when he saw Blaine walking over, "We need your shutting up technique," He pleaded.

Blaine smirked and nodded.

"...She's pretty enough to do pageants if she wants and..." Kurt was cut off by Blaine spinning him around and kissing him. Kurt melted into the kiss.

Puck took pity on the confused looking Finn, "Kisses are Kurt's Kryptonite," He explained.

"Blaine kisses," Kurt clarified. "You're both evil," The others laughed.

Blaine and Puck when to unload Blaine's car.

"You're totally planning to babble more often aren't you," Finn said insightfully.

"You know me to well, brother mine."

Finn smirked. "Scary, isn't it?"

"Terrifying. Come on let's help the others are here."

It took over an hour to finish unpacking all the cars, a few parents made two trips, getting rid of all the stuff that was cluttering attics and garages. They brought a bit of everything to support the addition to the family their children had chosen. None of the crockery matched, or the furniture, but Blaine informed them happily that it was eclectic and very fashionable. There was even a brief and tearful visit from Quinn's mum, who pushed a voucher into Quinn's hand for them to get a double bed each as her gift to them.

Blaine and Brittney were getting excited over the different colours they had to play with. They stored everything in the garage for now. Since the apartment would need to be cleaned first.

To their surprise, the flat was relatively clean. They looked at Kurt, who blushed and offered a small smile. "You really think I would have let you in here if it were a pig sty? It still needs to be cleaned, but it's just needs a general dusting and the walls need a wash down before we can paint."

They split into teams so all the rooms could be cleaned quickly, by the time everyone was getting hungry the little flat had been thoroughly cleaned and a base coat had been applied to both the bedrooms.

"Finn and I could go pick up dinner, if everyone writes down what they want," Rachel offered brushing some imaginary dust off her skirt.

"I'll come with you," Artie said quickly. "One high point with the wheels, speedy service," Artie grinned.

"Me too," Tina piped up, "You'll need an extra set of hands to carry things."

"What about things for tomorrow?" Quinn asked, now food had been mentioned, it had occurred to her that there was nothing for them to eat the next day.

"We could go to the store and get what we need," Mercedes suggested.

"I'll come," Santana offered, happy to get some fresh air, she turned to Brittney. "Are you coming?"

"I want to stay with the pretty dolphins." Brittney said dreamily.

Trying his best to ignore that comment, Puck changed the subject. "The kitchen doesn't need decorating; while you're gone we can put the fridge and any kitchen-y stuff away. Then you can put the food away when you get back and we'll have plates and shit to eat off."

"Good plan, who has paper?"

It took the three remaining boys to get the huge fridge up the stairs, the freezer could be kept in the storage area out of the way. Thankfully they wouldn't need to carry that too. When the others all got back to the kitchen, it was set up and ready to use. They had even managed to do it without much auguring, and Kurt only threatened them once.

Kurt was instructing the other two boys where the last of the kitchen appliances should go when the flat door opened and all the missing Glee clubbers returned.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Santana was exclaiming.

"Nope, totally serious. I used to express, and take it over every day. I read in the books that when your baby cries your body, you know, leaks and gets ready to feed it. What the books don't tell you is whenever you hear _any_ baby cry it will happen. You have no idea how embarrassing it is to walk through Wal-Mart and have to buy a new top so the wet patches won't show."

"And if I wasn't gay before..." Kurt grimaced, learning far more than he ever wanted to about the female body.

"Like that was ever gonna happen," Santana teased.

"Right back at you, bitch," Kurt grinned at his unlikely friend.

"Cow," She returned as was expected. They grinned at each other. "Where's Brit?"

"Um, she was here," Blaine stammered looking around moving away from the scary girl.

They found Brittney in the master bedroom that would be for Quinn and the baby. She was sitting on the floor adding the finishing touches to a mural she'd pained across one corner of the room. Considering how little time she had to paint it, it was beautiful.

In the corner Brittney had painted a tree which had one large branch coming out to the left along the length of the wall, stopping half way. On the branch was sitting in profile an eagle with a Mohawk and a smirk. Below the branch was a sea scope on a rock were sitting two mermaids one with long flowing dark hair and the other with blond, they were holding hands and looking lovingly at each other. Further back were two dolphins jumping from the water, one wearing a hat the other a tie. A second branch reached out from the tree on this branch sat a Siamese cat, it was sitting tall and majestic looking down at the field below it. Standing near the tree nuzzling each other were a stag and a doe. The doe was wearing a jumper with a human on it, and the stag had a football jacket on. The last two animals on the wall was a beautifully decorated Chinese dragon with purple streaks along the side of its head, a boy on her back had his head thrown back in obvious laughter as the dragon was launching itself into the air trying to catch a brightly coloured bird flying ahead of it.

The other members of the Glee club stared at the wall in wonder. "Is Pizza here?" Brittany asked innocently getting up from the floor and brushing down her skirt.

"Brit, that's stunning," Quinn breathed pulling her into a hug.

Brittany shrugged. "I thought the baby bed could go there, and then she'd always wake up to family."

"I think it's a great idea. And you are totally in charge of painting Bethy's room when we get to New York," Puck told the now beaming girl.

The group had a blast that weekend, painting decorating and placing all the furniture they had been given. By Sunday night it was ready, even the majority of Beth's things had been brought over. The Gleeks were stretching out over the flat's living area chatting before they went to sleep, the girls were sharing the bed's Santana had even promised no funny stuff in Puck's new bed, when the Quinn's phone rang.

Quinn looked at the display before answering it quickly looking worried. "Shelby, what's wrong, is Beth ok?" she asked worriedly, the others sitting up straight waiting to find out what was going on. "We're on our way," Quinn said after a few munities of listening to Shelby.

"What's going on Quinny?" Puck asked worried at how pale Quinn was looking.

"Shelby wants to go early, something about wanting to "acclimatise", she wants us to go and get Beth now," Quinn explained, no one moved.

Kurt, sensing the uncertainty in the room, jumped into action. "Finn, you go with Noah and Quinn to bring back the crib and whatever else is left," when no one moved he clapped his hands. "Now people! Move."

This snapped Puck into action and they were soon on the way.

"That woman is unbelievable. What kind of person does that to a kid, it's gone eight. A baby should be in bed asleep at eight at night, not being dragged across town." Santana ranted only calming down when Brittney hugged her.

"Oh my sweet Gaga," Kurt exclaimed jumping up. "Do you know what day it is?" He asked, not really expecting an answer. "It's June 8th, this time last year we were rushing Quinn to the Emergency Room; she'd gone into labour."

"That's a really long labour," Brittney said looking concerned for her friend.

"What do you mean Britt?" Rachel asked confused

"Well a year is a really long time before they let you bring the baby home."

Santana smiled indulgently at her, she loved the innocence about the other girl. "She's coming home for her birthday,"

"We need cake," Blaine said suddenly.

"And ice cream," Mercedes agreed.

"Party supplies!" Kurt demanded pushing Blaine and Mercedes out of the door,

Brittney dragged Santana out after them chanting, "Presents," Over and over.

"I can't believe how much has changed in the last year," Rachel commented watching them go.

"Tell me about it," Kurt agreed fervently.

"Talk about a dysfunctional family," Rachel smiled at him.

"Family is a funny thing Rach, if you told me two years ago I'd look at you like my fashionably challenged sister I would have laughed. But there you have it. We may be dysfunctional, but we are family," Kurt said adjusting his hair.

"You know, I know the perfect song..."

Kurt just groaned, and joined Rachel in laughter, as they tidied up, getting ready for the rest of the family to come home.

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**Any good? let me know **

**Mrs C**


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